Skate



No. 609,40l. Patented Aug. 23, I898. G. P. BEISEL.

SKATE.

(Application filed Aug. 3, 1897.)

(No Model.)

P E; 1 1's Ano s,

MED

CHARLES P. BEISEL, OF WILKES-BARRF], PENNSYLVANIA.

SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,4Q1, dated August23, 1898.

Application filed August 3, 1897- Serial No. 646,966. (No model.) i

To colt whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES P. BEISEL, a citizen of the United States,residing at WVilkes-Barr, in the county of Luzerne and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Skate, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in skates of that class wherein adivided footplate is used in connection with a divided runner and withfoot and heel clamps controlled from a single adj usting-lever; and theprimary object of the invention is to produce an improved skate ofsimple construction which enables the skater to use the same to betteradvantage andwith less fatigue than all other forms of skates known tome.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved skatewherein the user is enabled to bend the foot and shoe freely and withoutrestraint either fromthe skate or its fastening appliances while in theact of striking out, which will be held securely on the foot against anylongitudinal displacement or play and still relieve the shoe sole andheel to such an extent as to prevent giving away of said parts, and torelieve the skater from the cramping and strain of the limbs due. to theuse of skates havingcontinuous stiff plates or the continuousplatespring foot-plates.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionof the footclamp, in which its elements are so adjusted and controlledthat the foot of the skater, without regard to the size or shape, may beproperly centered on the skate, and the latter is made applicable todifferent-shaped feet.

With these ends in view my invention consists, first, of a skate havingits foot-plate and runner divided transversely on a line intermediate ofits ends to produce a toe section or member and a foot section ormember, means for pivotally connecting the toe member to the foot memberof the divided skate, a spring which tends to normally throw up or liftthe toe member, and a clamp which is carried only by the foot member ofthe skate, but which has no connection either directly or indirectlywith the toe membe y and the latter is thus left free of any restraintfrom the clamp which attaches the skate to the foot.

.The invention further consists in the com- 'bination, with afoot-plateand a threaded rod operated by a lever, of a slidable bracket or carrierprovided with a boss and with a pivotaperture arranged in eccentricrelation to said boss, afoot-clamp having one member loosely fitted onthe boss of the slidable bracket or carrier and its other memberconnected by a pivot to the eccentrically-placed opening in the carrieror bracket, and means for slidably attaching the bracket or carrier tothe foot plate of the skate in a manner to guide the carrier or bracketin a direction diagonally across the foot-plate; and the inventionfurther consists in the novel combination of elements and in theconstruction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fullydescribed and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a top plan view ofa skate constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is aninverted or bottom plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectionalelevation on the plane indicated by the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig.4C, a detail perspective view of the slidable bracket with the parts ofthe foot-clamp detached or separated one from the other.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figuresof the drawings. 1

In my improved skate I provide a runner 1,

which is dividedat a point near the front or toe portion thereof, andthe foot-plate 2 is also divided transversely and coincidently with thedivision in the runner. This division of the runner and the foot-plateprovides the main part or foot member proper (indicated at 3) and thetoe section or member, (indicated at 4.) The toe section or member 4:hasits part of the runner and the plate joined rigidly together in anysuitable manner-as, for instance, by riveting the parts 5 but themainpart 3 of the skate has the runner, the other part of the foot-plate,and the heelplate 5 all united rigidly together-as, for instance, byriveting. The'division between the main part of the skate and itsindependnear the middle part of the shoe and foot when the skate isapplied, and with a divided skate of this character I have combined thefoot-clamp and the spring in anovel manner to provide a free orunrest-rained movement of the toe-section 4 of the skate.

The toe-section 4 is pivoted or hinged to the foot and heel section 3 bya pintle or hingerod 6, which is supported in suitable lugs or plates 78, fastened, respectively, to the adjacent edges of the plates 011 thetoe and foot members et 3 of the skate, and around this pintle or rod isfitted a coiled spring 9, which is held or confined in place on thepintle and between the lugs or plates, one end of said spring being heldor clamped between the plate and lug of the foot-section, while theother end of the spring is held between the plate and lug of thetoe-section, as shown by 'Figs. 2 and 3.

The foot-clamp 10 has no connection, either directly or indirectly, withthe toe member or section 4 of the skate; but this clamp 10 is carriedexclusively by the foot section or member 3 in a manner to attach theskate firmly and solidly to the shoe-sole, and thus leave the toesection or member 4- to have an unrestrained upward movement against theskaters foot by the pressure of the spring 9.

From this description it will be apparent that the divided skate withthe foot-clam p on the main body or part and with the spring actingagainst the unrestrained hinged toesection enables the skater to bendthe foot and shoe with great freedom of motion in the act of strikingout. The skate is held against any longitudinal play or displacement onthe foot by the action of the foot and heel clamps, while the springtends to hold the hinged toesection firmly against the bottom of theshoesole, so as to enable the toe-section to yield or give freely to thepressure of the foot against the said hinged toe-section. The improvedskate is thus well adapted to the needs of the skater, and the improvedclamp obviates any tendency to pull off the sole or heel from the shoeand to relieve the skater from the cramp and strain of the limbs due tothe use of skates where a continuous foot-plate is used or where thefoot-clamp is carried by the hinged toe-section.

I construct the main foot-section 3 with a diagonal longitudinal slotand provide a peculiar form of the foot-clamp 10 for the purpose ofcentering the skaters foot on the skate without reference to the shapeof the foot or the shoe. In this embodiment of the invention I use atwo-part clamp in which a differential play or movement is given to thetwo parts of the clamp in order that one part of the clamp may beprojected beyond the edge of the foot-plate more than the other part ofthe clamp, whereby the position of the shoe and the foot on the skatemay be changed according to the shape of the foot or the shoe.

The clamp 10 consists of the parts 11 and 12, theslidablecarrierorbracket 13,and a slidable stud which serves to attachthe bracket or carrier slidably to the foot-plate and to pivotallyattach the two parts of the clamp to the carrier or bracket. The bracketitself is cast in a single piece of metal with a circular boss 14 andwith a pair of apertured lugs or cars 15, and this circular boss 14 ofthe carrier or bracket is pierced with an opening 16, which occupies aneccentric relation to the boss and the bracket. The part or member 11 ofthe foot-clamp is enlarged at one end and provided with an opening 11*,which enables the clamp member 11 to be fitted loosely on the boss 14 ofthe bracket and to be thus attached pivotally thereto. The other part ormember 12 of the foot-clamp is pierced with an opening 12, and it isadjusted to lie upon the boss 14 and the pivoted end of the other part11. Through the eccentric opening 16 of the bracket and the opening 12of the clamp member 12 is passed a headed rivet or pin 18, whereby onemember or part of the clamp is attached centrally to the bracket, whilethe other part of the clamp is pivoted eccentrically thereto, and thusthe two parts of the clamp are given a differential play or movementwhen the bracket or carrier is adjusted on the foot-plate of the skate.In the rear part of the foot-plate of the skate is provided alongitudinal slot 19, which is arranged in a slightly-inclined ordiagonal position with reference to the axial line of the skate and itsfoot-plate, and through this slot 19 passes the end of the headed pivotor rivet. This rivet or pivot thus serves to slidably attach the bracketor carrier to the foot-plate and to hold said carrier and the clampmembers in proper relation to the foot-plate, and these clamp membersare also slidabl y attached to the foot-plate near its edges by means ofthe pins or rivets which pass through curved slots in the clamp membersand are fastened to the foot plate. The described construction of thefoot-clamp in connection with the slidable bracket or carrier and thediagonal slot in the foot-plate gives to the clamp an adjustment whichenables one part or memberthereof to be projected beyond the side of thefoot-plate more than the other part of the clamp, and thus the clamp isadjusted or controlled to enable it to properly center different sizedand shaped feet to the skate in order to have the foot and shoe bearproperly upon the skate.

The inclined slot 1.9, in connection with the slidable carrier for thetoe-clamp, which has its members connected to the carrier to havedifferential play or movement, possesses utility in the combination ofparts in that said slot furthers the ends to be attained by a toe-clamphaving its members mounted for differential play. The function of theslot,

in connection with the toe-clamp of the nature described, is to mountthe clamp on the skate so that one member is projected beyond one sideof the skate to a greater extent than the projection of the other memberbeyond the opposite side of the skate, and by having the slot inclinedlongitudinally of the foot-plate to assume the diagonal position thereonthe toe-clamp carrier is adapted to assume positions where its membersproject for different distances beyond the sides of the skate. At thesame time the clamp has its members mounted on the carrier fordifferential movement, and thus the clamp is adapted to be fitted toshoes of diiferent sizes.

I prefer to provide my skate with a twopart heel-clamp, the members ofwhich are indicated at 20 21 and provided with slots 22, through whichpass the fastening-rivets 23. The inner ends of the heel-clamp membersare pivoted at a common point to the locking-lever 24 at the placeindicated by the rivet 25, and this lever is fulcrumed on the rearextremity of the adjusting bolt or stem 26. The front end of said stemor bolt is screw-threaded, and it passes freely through the aperturedlugs 15 of the bracket or carrier. On this stem works the adjusting-nut27, which is confined loosely between the spaced lugs or cars of thebracket or plate, and thus the adjustment of the nut on the stem movesthe bracket or plate to adjust the foot-clamp members 11 12 to the widthof the shoe-sole.

The threaded extremity of the stem is free from a head, pin, or otherobstruction to enable the nut and the bracket to be removed. Thisconstruction also provides for the reversal of the bracket or carrier onthe stem to change the position of the bracket with relation to theparts or members of the footclamp, and thus the foot-clamp is adjustableto serve its purposes to the best advantage.

It is thought that the operation and the advantages of my improved skatewill be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken inconnection with the drawings.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in thedetails of construction of the device herein shown and described as thepreferred embodiment of my invention may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. I therefore reserve the right to make suchmodifications and alterations as fairly fall within the scope of theinvention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A divided sectional skatecomprising a main part or foot member, a hinged toe member, a spring tonormally lift the toe member, and a clamp carried by the foot membersolely and entirely independent of the hinged toe member, whereby theskate may be held rigidly on the foot and the toe member is given anunrestrained yielding pressure against the foot, as and for the purposesdescribed.

2. A divided sectional skate comprising a main part or foot member, atoe member, a pintle which connects the two members pivotally together,a coiled spring fitted on the pintle and having its ends connected tothe respective members, and a clamp carried solely by the foot memberand entirely dis connected from the hinged toe member, as and for thepurposes described.

3. In a skate, a foot-plate provided with a slot which is arrangeddiagonally to the longitudinal axis of said foot-plate and the line oftravel of the toe-clamp, combined with a two part toe clamp having itsmembers united together by a slidable pivot which plays in said diagonalslot and imparts differential movement to the two members of saidtoe-clamp, and means for actuating the foot-clamp, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a skate, the combination with a footplate, and a lever-controlledstem,of a bracket or carrier fitted on said stem and provided with aboss and an eccentric aperture, a twopart foot-clamp having one memberthereof fitted loosely on the boss of said carrier, and a headed studwhich serves to connect the other'member of the foot-clamp to theeccentrically-apertured part of the carrier and to slidably attach thecarrier to the foot-plate, as and for the purposes described.

5. In a skate, the combination with a levercontrolled stem, and afoot-plate having an inclined slot therein, of a carrier looselyconnected to the slotted foot-plate and adjustably mounted on the stem,and a two-part clamp having its members connected with the bracket orcarrier to have differential play or movement imparted thereto, as andfor the purposes described.

6. In a skate, the combination of a footplate having a longitudinalinclined slot, a

lever, a stem or rod threaded for a part of its length, a bracket orcarrier with its lugs fitted to the stem and provided with a boss, a nutalso fitted to the stem and arranged between the lugs of the bracket, atwo-part clamp having one member loosely fitted to the boss of thebracket, and a head-stud which passes through the slot in the foot-plateand serves to pivot the other part of the foot-clamp to the bracket ineccentric relation to the same, as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHAS. P. BEISEL.

lVitnesses:

JOHN H. SIGGERS, Y

FRANCES PEYTON SMITH.

